འཕགས་པ་རག་སྔགས་ཀྱ་རྒྱལ་པ་སྒྲན་མ་མཆག་ག་གཟངས intro.6

intro.6

Though dhāraṇīs are used to bring about a wide range of effects from the mundane to the transcendent, it is often the mundane benefits of dhāraṇī recitation that are given priority. The Dhāraṇī of Agrapradīpa is no different in this regard. Here, we are told that the dhāraṇīs can protect the reciter from a host of threatening forces, including bhūtas, nāgas, yakṣas, rākṣasas, vetālas, and similar supernatural beings, as well as from the danger posed by biting insects, snakes, spiders, and predatory animals. These dhāraṇīs will protect one from a wide range of infectious diseases and skin disorders and will even avert the effects of hostile magic. By reciting these dhāraṇīs one will remain safe wherever one is, be it at home, in a royal palace, out in the wilderness, or in situations where one’s life is threatened by fire and water. One can even escape criminal punishment through the use of these dhāraṇīs. Among the spiritual benefits of reciting the dhāraṇīs is the ability to remember multiple past lives, to mitigate the effects of eons of accumulated karma, and to amass in a short period of time the same merit bodhisattvas accumulate over millions of eons. Such is the power of a dhāraṇī as the distillation of the Dharma into short, potent, and broadly applicable formulas to heal, protect, and facilitate one’s progress to awakening.